Native Plants

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants

See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

rate this answer

Not Yet Rated

Friday - March 08, 2013

From: San Marcos, TX
Region: Southwest
Topic: Plant Lists, Privacy Screening, Shrubs, Trees, Wildflowers
Title: Landscaping a Fence with Native Plants for Central Texas
Answered by: Anne Van Nest

QUESTION:

I'm looking to landscape my fence that I've lined with woven bamboo. The area gets the hot afternoon sun in summer and is pretty shady in winter. The plants need to be drought and heat tolerant. I'd like it to look natural, attract wildlife (birds), and be people friendly, i.e. no thorns, spines, or be poisonous to kids. I know that takes out a lot of Texas natives but I would like the yard to be barefoot-friendly. Ideally the plants should be evergreen with lots of native perennials in front for color. Quick growing is a plus, and they must be tolerant of Central Texas soil � rocky soil with good drainage. It is on a slope � down towards the east. The fence is on the southwest side of the yard and is about 50' long. It is also under cable lines. I have been toying with Mexican plum, elbow bush, lantana, pincushion, and various sages in front yard. I already have mountain laurel, cenizo, yaupon holly, and coralberry on property � so would like to not use these.

ANSWER:

There are lots of interesting Texas native plants that are good possibilities for your fence landscape (that you aren’t already growing). In summary, you are looking for plants that tolerate full sun and dry soil, and that are evergreen, thorn/spine-free, and only grow to be a small tree size or shorter (so they do not interfere with the overhead wires).

The first place to go to find a list of potential plants is our Native Plant Database. Use the Combination Search feature instead of Recommended Species. This will provide a bigger selection with much more choice to narrow down. The volunteers and staff at the Wildflower Center who maintain the database have partners in different regions to help with these recommended species lists based on what is easy to access in local nurseries.

Under Combination Search, select the following categories: State – Texas, Habit – All habits, Duration – Perennial, Leaf Retention – evergreen, Light Requirement – Sun, Soil Moisture – Dry, Height – 0-12 ft. You can narrow down this search further by indicating blooming time and bloom color too.

This search criterion resulted in 72 plants of which the list was further narrowed to 20 by removing the plants with spines or thorns. Follow each plant link to our webpage for that plant to learn its growing conditions, bloom time, etc. At the bottom of each plant webpage, under Additional Resources, there is a link to the USDA webpage for that plant. Take a look there for more specific details about suitability before you put them on your final planting list.

Additionally, the list of potential plants has notations about toxic properties for you to consider. These plants have concerns for animals, pets or humans. To get more information about the toxic nature of some plants look up toxic plants of Texas at the Virtual Herbarium online at the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Plants of Texas Rangelands website.

Suggested shrubs and trees for your fence landscape:

Acacia constricta (whitehorn acacia): look for a thornless type.

Cercocarpus montanus var. argenteus (silver mountain mahogany) – toxic properties.

Forestiera angustifolia (narrow-leaf forestiera)

Lycium berlandieri (wolfberry)

Paxistima myrsinites (myrtle boxwood)

Quercus turbinella (shrub live oak)

Rhus virens (evergreen sumac)

Sabal minor (dwarf palmetto)

Native perennials for your fence landscape:

Asclepias asperula (spider milkweed) – toxic properties.

Callirhoe involucrata (winecup)